Wednesday, October 17, 2007

QUIT it, but I can't, I just really CAN'T

Okay. Today's our sembreak. Yeah right. Who cares?? But I really do care about this crappy thing. Sembreak is like an isolated cellar located in a remote island somewhere in the vast area of Pacific Ocean.

Naaah just kidding!

Seriously, sembreaks make me feel bad. It made me colder than the ice, turning me into a stupid goofball lying all around in the corner waiting for somebody. Whatever. In short, sembreak means NO MONEY!

-no baon or daily allowance-

Arrghh. Crap.

I can't escape the isolated cellar. I would go deranged.

So my mom had a solution. An idea which at first, perfect to me - to be her assistant tutor. Okay, my mom had a tutorial center, of course nasa bahay lang and currently she had eight students, ranging from preschool to grade six. Initially, she assigned me to teach her grade five and six pupils and she only told me to teach them math. So I've made a decision, I want to be her assistant since I really need money, desperately. Initial salary is 800 pesos. I told myself that I could do those easy task.

Okay. Day one.

I was quite excited at that time.Everything went on a smooth pace.The lesson that I've taught was about fraction. Adding similar, dissimilar, multiplying, dividing, getting the reciprocal of blahblah.. PERIOD. DONE. I just remembered during my elementary days, that I find fractions as a difficult lesson. But today?? JUST A PIECE OF CAKE.

Originally I only had two students ..

UNTIL

My mom asked me a to do a LITTLE favor, that is, to teach another grade five student and the subject is still Math. Initially, I declined since that specific student was indeed a slow learner (sorry to be harsh but that's true). I was quite shock because he hasn't still memorize the multiplication table even if he's already a fifth grader! My God! I remember that I memorized the whole multiplication table as early as grade two! (Maybe, it's because of our umbridge-like math teacher when I was still in my second grade heehee =]). Okay, but what can I do? Eventually I agreed.

Day two.

My third student arrived early. Damn early.Anyhow, he's quite confused (or he just didn't listen to his teacher) about adding and subtracting dissimilar fractions. Mind you, a person like me with limited patience could burst into flames if he still didn't got it, literally. As I discussed the lesson, he just blankly replied to me, with his eerie voice of an undetermined YES. It's just easy, you just get the LCD of the denominators. But what's the problem?? He didn't mastered the multiplication table!

Oooohhh. I just counted 1 to 10, bit my tongue, controlled by impatience.

I made some facial signs to my mom, but she just replied with a facial remarks as if she wanted me to "go with the flow."

But, as human nature goes, I didn't really care about his grades, what I really care if he understood me. Arrghh. Maybe he's just not listening to me. Whatever.

Day Three

Mom asked me another 'little favor' - to teach my other grade five student about science (photosynthesis and simple biodiversity) and my grade six student about Civics and Culture. Okay. I agreed again, since Science and Social Science was my forte way back on elementary and highschool and even now. =]

Things began to feel heavier than usual. I draw some figures on one of my student's homework, answered their assignments, tutored them about math, answered their problem sets again. These continued until today.

But hey, tihngs weren't on smooth pace because my mom asked me to teach my slow-learner 5th grader about Filipino. I understand the lesson but I don't know how to explain it! Crap. My mom saw my face, pouting and she just told me to teach my students about math and she would took care about my 'other student's' dilemma on Filipino. Haay. **SIGH**.

Today is day seven. And I'm tired. REALLY REALLY TIRED!

Also, my study table became entropic and messy. Crap! I hate seeing books and notebooks disarranged. And it's quite annoying because one of my mom's students began to sing Jojo's "BEAUTIFUL GIRL". For me it's okay if he sings if he possess a voice like Christian Bautista, Andrea Boccelli and the list goes on and on and on.

But hell, he sang in an out-of-tune manner and his voice was quite similar to KOKEY'S. Arrghhh! Fuck Up! Shut Up! But I can't say to my mom's annoying students. That's verbal abused.

I wanna quit but I can't. It's not the money that I've been through all along, it's just I want to experience this kind of profession. Asst tutor pa lang, mejo bumigay na ako. But, it was a funny experience that I did this sembreak. At least, it's a unique thing, not a common one.

I'm amazed with my mom because she could handle her students from time to time. Maybe, teaching is a talent. I don't have a talent for it! I don't have patience!